Tenchi Muyo! Universe #5
Science Project
by Ewen "Ryoga" Cluney

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and the characters, places, 
etc. therein are trademarks of AIC/Pioneer LDC; this work is not 
intended to be a challenge to any such ownership, and may be 
distributed freely, in unmodified form.

     Author's Note: This story deals with Kuri and Yuri, a pair 
of graduate students at the Science Academy, which both Washu and 
Dr. Clay attended. Kuri and Yuri are original characters, and 
members of the same race of Washu.

     The vast halls of the Science Academy were filled with the 
sounds of excited chatter. The news that had brought about this 
enthused discussion was about Washu. Although she had completed 
her course at the graduate school millennia ago, she still was a 
celebrity of sorts. It was nearly a year ago that they heard she 
was living on Terra, following the defeat of Kagato. There was 
much speculation on how this had happened, and why she had chosen 
to stay on Earth, but no clear reasons could be determined by 
conjecture alone.
     Now, the word was that she had destroyed Kain! It had taken 
a joint effort between Planet Jurai and the Galaxy Police to 
capture Kain in the GP's subspace room. In Kain's escape, he had 
obliterated GP HQ, and headed to Earth for some reasons, appar-
ently into the past. Somehow, Washu had defeated him, which meant 
she had been able to follow him into the past!
     "How do you suppose she did it?" asked Mito, a young 
Draalthi student with short black hair.
     Kuri and Yuri exchanged glances; the two of them were au-
thorities on Washu's exploits, or as close to it was there was 
among the students. Yuri spoke. "It's difficulty to say; we 
haven't heard much in the way of specifics yet, except that Kain 
was trying to affect the past in some way, and she would have had 
to somehow follow through time."
     "But for the actual destruction of Kain," Kuri added, "she 
would've probably used a Dimensional Cannon."
     "I've worked with one of those before." said Kushami, a 
Kizakan, "It uses a dimensional coupler system. The thing can 
wipe out a small galaxy."
     "Too bad about the GP though." said Mito.
     There were nods of agreement all around.
     "I feel sorry for the Federation." Kushami added.
     Yuri and Kuri shrugged in unison. "There's still plenty of 
GPs around, even if their HQ is gone," Yuri began.
     "And besides," Kuri continued, "Planet Jurai will probably 
lend a hand if it comes down to it."
     "And if it gets really bad, the Academy might too."
     A chime resonated through the great halls; rest period was 
over, and the students began to get back to their business, 
traveling by any number of methods. Kuri and Yuri used a jump 
disc -- a circular portal that allowed for instantaneous trans-
portation -- and headed for their lab.

     Being eccentric was more or less a requirement for the 
Science Academy, and Kuri and Yuri were no exception. Twin Kota-
mi, they had been together since birth. Kuri was male and hand 
blue hair, while Yuri was female and had red hair. Beyond that, 
they were virtually identical. They had been together so much, in 
fact, that they almost though as once, and each could sense the 
other's feelings.
     Like all Academy students, they had an insatiable need for 
knowledge. Their research had become well known, especially given 
the fact that they were only a bit over six hundred years old, 
and ready to leave the Graduate School.
     There were only two things left to do; they had to finish 
one last research project, and then take the Final Exam.
     That research project was the biggest question at the mo-
ment; not only was it the most immediate challenge, but it was 
well known that there wasn't any way to prepare for the Final 
Exam. There were many possibilities for a project, and it was 
proving very hard to choose. They wanted to do something that 
would distinguish them, something special. And, more importantly, 
something that would give them an excuse to go to Earth.
     The strange, backwards little world, with limited technolo-
gies and strange inhabitants, was fascinating in many ways. 
Terrans could be found all over the galaxy; on Jurai, in the 
Galactic Federation, among some of the Non-Aligned Worlds, and 
even in the Science Academy.
     They were an enigma in many ways; no other race in the 
galaxy was so paradoxical. It often seemed like none of them 
believed in anything, regardless of how blatant it was. Anyone 
who claimed aliens had landed was branded a fool. Of course, 
Juraians, Kizakans, and countless other races *had* visited the 
planet, though such visits have become much more rare since 
Planet Jurai declared the Sol system to be a Non-Interference 
Preserve.
     Kuri pulled up the database on Earth -- there was informa-
tion on many topics.
     "Kuri, bring up the file on time travel." asked Yuri.
     He did so; there was only a smattering of observations and 
theories available, none of which provided anything concrete. 

"This has possibilities." he said with a grin. "The main problem 
with time travel is aligning with the temporal axis, but no one 
knows what that is."
     "As in... the point when the universe began?"
     He nodded. "Something like that. But if we could observe the 
trace energy from a place where there was a temporal disturbance 
whose time frame we knew..."
     "The Kain incident. Perfect."


     Yuki was a spaceship, but there was only one in the universe 
that was even remotely similar to it, that being the infamous 
Ryo-Ohki, created by Washu herself. Yuri and Kuri had created 
Yuki from a crystalline entity, as was said to have been done 
with Ryo-Ohki. However, where Ryo-Ohki had sharp black spires at 
oblique angles from its central hub, Yuki's appearance was closer 
to the soft beauty of a snowflake.
     Yuki was inexperienced, having been created some five years 
ago, compared to the nearly five thousand of Ryo-Ohki. It would 
take time for Yuki to improve and grow, though a personality was 
already emerging; Yuki's most apparent trait was unswerving 
loyalty to its creators.
     Kuri, then Yuri, floated into the crew area. This was a 
hemispherical chamber, made of white crystal, and with a number 
of transparent spheres suspended in mid-air.
     Yuki did have one thing that Ryo-Ohki did not -- a spacefold 
drive. This worked by affecting the overdimension of the ship and 
its contents, thus allowing for nearly instantaneous travel. The 
system had been thought of a long time ago, but it was only in 
the past two years that it was made safe to use. Integrating the 
system into Yuki had proved to be difficult, but far from impos-
sible, and it functioned quite well.
     "Yuki?"
     The ship responded with a musical resonance.
     "Fold us to Earth."

     Washu sat in her subspace lab, at the heart of an incredible 
array of machinery. She was going over the data from the affair 
with Kain. Washu had really outdone herself in this instance, 
having virtually perfected a technique for time travel.
     Something beeped. She pulled up the computer readout -- it 
had registered a disturbance in subspace.
     "A ship?"
     Given that she was the only one around who could pay atten-
tion to such matters, Washu figured it would be a good idea to 
investigate just who or what this was.

     Kuri and Yuri looked down at the Earth. "Where do we start?" 
Kuri pondered.
     Yuki made a plaintive sound, and they quickly saw why; Ryo-
Ohki was approaching fast.
     "Ryo-Ohki? Then Washu--"
     Kuri nodded. "But how did she detect us?"
     "It was easy, really." The twins turned around to see the 
diminutive genius standing there. "I have a subspace monitor set 
up." Washu stepped closer to them. "So tell me, why are you two 
here? I can tell you're from the Science Academy..."
     They looked at each other; Kuri spoke. "We are looking for a 
topic on which to prepare a research project; once that is done 
we move on to the Final Exam."
     "And you came all this way for my help?"
     Both of them pressed the tips of their index fingers togeth-
er nervously. "Well," Yuri said at last, "not exactly; we 
wouldn't mind a little help, but we... hadn't been counting on 
getting any."
     Washu frowned. "And you still came all thus way?"
     "It wasn't all that far," said Kuri, "at least, not by 
spacefold."
     Washu raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that 
spacefold was highly dangerous." she said evenly.
     They smiled. "Not anymore." said Yuri.
     Kuri nodded. "A team, of which we were a part, devised a 
dimensional stabilizer device two years ago."
     Washu smiled. "How old are you two anyway?"
     "Six hundred seventy-two." they replied in unison.
     "I remember when I was your age. Still wet behind the ears." 
Washu glanced around Yuki's interior. "Nice ship."
     "It's loosely based on Ryo-Ohki."
     "I gathered that." Washu replied. "Though it's not nearly as 
powerful."
     Yuki trilled sadly. The illumination dimmed slightly. The 
twins sighed. "Now you've done it." said Yuri."

     Kuri nodded. "You hurt Yuki's feelings."
     Washu's voluminous hair seemed to wilt a little. "Oh." She 
looked up. "Yuki, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
     The lighting returned to normal, and the ship made some 
pleasant noises.
     "So tell me, kids, what's happening at the Academy these 
days? Anything exciting?"
     "Nothing that compares with what we've hears about you." 
said Yuri.
     "Yes," Kuri added. "When we left, everyone was talking about 
the defeat of Kain."
     "Are you two always like this?"
     The exchanged glances quizzically. "How do you mean?" asked 
Kuri.
     "Well," said Washu, running her fingers through her long, 
pinkish red hair, "I don't mean how you act towards one another 
-- I already figured that out. It's just that I don't often meet 

someone more enthusiastic than myself."
     "We are a bit excited," said Kuri, "to be speaking to a 
living legend."
     "Amongst our peers we're the foremost experts on your ex-
ploits." Yuri added. "You might say we're fans of yours."
     "I never knew I was so popular." the genius said with a 
grin. "Is there anything you want to ask me?"
     Of course there was. They hesitated, unsure of who should 
speak, or what to ask.
     Finally, Yuri blurted out, "How did you time travel to 
defeat Kain?"
     Remembering how much of an egotist Washu was reputed to be, 
Kuri was quick to add, "No one else has been able to do so suc-
cessfully."
     Washu smiled again. "It's actually pretty simple when you 
understand it; I used a speed-induced temporal displacement, and 
calculated the destination based on the time axis."
     They nodded in understanding. "So," said Yuri, "the acceler-
ation is close to light speed to reduce the amount of temporal 
inertia."
     Washu nodded. "It's nice to explain something and have 
someone understand you once in a while."
     "One other thing," said Yuri, "Why have you chosen to stay 
on Earth?"
     Washu grinned. "Tenchi."
     "Who?" they asked in unison.
     "Tell 'ya what. After you finish your project, drop by. Just 
look for the Jurai Energy -- you'll find the house in no time." 
Washu winked. "See 'ya round, kids." And with that, she vanished.

     Yuki was doing an energy spectrum scan of Earth; not only 
would it likely point the way to whatever they might be looking 
for, but most of the Academy's records were some twenty years out 
of date. The results were interesting; the psychic energy alone 
was incredible in certain places. She also detected signs of 
molecular fission, meaning that nuclear power facilities were 
still in use.
     As it happened, Yuki was able to locate a source of Jurai 
energy; a single, rooted spaceship tree. They could only guess as 
to what this meant, and who, or what, Tenchi was.
     The most interesting prospect by far, however, was at the 
heart of a massive population center. In it there was a large 
metal structure which showed a minute temporal discrepancy; they 
went down for a look.

     All eyes were on the twins as they walked around the obser-
vation deck. Given the nature of what they were discussing, they 
spoke in the Kotami tongue, mixed with gestures and bits of words 
that only the two of them could possibly understand.
     The residual energy was from a massive temporal disruption 
some twenty-six years ago. Based on the readings, it seemed that 
multiple temporal shifts had taken place, and major timeline 
changes had been done and undone in the vicinity of the tower.
     Based on these readings, they were able to calculate several 
figures, which would be vital to time travel research. So much 
so, in fact, that they had little doubt that the Academy's admin-
istrators would have ordered a full investigation if they learned 
of this.
     The readings done, they returned to Yuki, and once there 
looked over the results.
     They giggled with anticipation -- based on the readings, 
they had been able to fix the time axis. Furthermore, it would be 
possible to time jump using a normal spacefold drive! All it 
required was to recalibrate it to move along the temporal axis 
rather than the spatial ones.
     They would try it.
     But there was one question; how far back would they go? They 
decided it would probably be best to start with short jumps for 
two reasons. One, it would be easier to navigate, and Two, if 
something prevented them from returning, they could just wait 
until the present. Yuri shrugged. "Six months?"
     Each nodded to the other, and they set off.

     The Souja drifted through the void.
     Kagato smiled. "Soon," he muttered, "soon the Power will be 
mine." He could sense that all was running smoothly; very soon he 
would arrive at Earth. There he could recover Ryoko, and come 
closer to the Power of Jurai.
     One of the countless sensor units alerted him -- there was a 
ship of some sort. It was mineral-organic in composition, and of 
an unknown type.
     Kagato idly tapped at the keys of his massive pipe organ. 
"What have we here..." he muttered, then vanished.

     Yuki was severely panicked -- they had completed the time 
jump successfully, but the moment they reemerged into normal 
space, a massive vessel was bearing down on them. The scans 
showed it to easily be a hundred times more powerful than Yuki.
     A greenish sphere of energy appeared in the bridge. It split 
open and a pale man -- or demon -- glided out, and floated down 
to the floor.
     The twins immediately realized who it was, but found it 
difficult to believe it. "Kagato?!"
     The Destroyer of Artifacts smiled. "Twin Kotami, and stu-
dents of the Science Academy as well. Interesting."
     "What do you want here?" Yuri demanded.
     "I did not come to this corner of space for *you*, little 
ones. I am looking for my... property. _But_, since you're here, 
I might as well get what information I can."
     The two were in a quandary as to what to do.
     Kagato looked around. "Nice ship, even if it is a pale 
imitation of Ryo-Ohki. It looks to be derived from a Katarian 
creature."
     "It is." replied Yuri, cautiously.
     "Now," said Kagato, with a flare of his cloak, "You will 
tell me all you know about the House of Jurai."
     Kuri and Yuri looked to each other for guidance, but neither 
found any. There was a long pause. Kagato drifted closer.
     Without warning, he grabbed Yuri by the neck. She dangled 
there, unable to do anything against his iron grip. Sensing her 
pain and outrage, Kuri called forth his power, forming a blade of 
blue energy.
     Kagato smiled, and a sphere of greed energy formed. "Come 
and get your sister, if you dare."
     And with that, they were gone. Kuri fell to his knees. Yuri 
was gone, taken by none other than Kagato himself. What could he 
do? The Souja easily outclassed Yuki a hundred times over, to say 
nothing of Kagato himself.
     He had to *think*! But how could he without Yuri? They 
thought as one, and, it seemed, when they were apart they each 
only had half.
     "But I can't let her down." he growled. There had to be 
something he could do, something Kagato would never expect. "Of 
course!" Kuri had forgotten; they were in the past. Before space-

fold drives were viable.
     He had to prepare.

     Yuri found herself inside what appeared to be an hourglass. 
She was up to her neck in a fluid that looked like water, but 
whose consistency was closer to that of steel.
     "So, you're awake." said Kagato.
     Yuri looked around; she was in a vast hall. There were stone 
walls and pillars intermixed with empty space. At the center of 
it all, at the end of a long walkway was a massive pipe organ, 
next to which was Kagato. "Where... am I?" Her thoughts refused 
to focus, and she quickly realized why -- Kuri was not there.
     Kagato shot a glance in her direction. "You're in my chapel, 
on board the Souja."
     "Why are you doing this to us?"
     The Destroyer of Artifacts effortlessly played a few ominous 
notes on the organ. "We all have our parts to play. I have chosen 
the role of the _villain_." He clenched his fist and looked at 
her, grinning. "The *conqueror*!"
     "Conqueror?"
     He nodded. "Once I command the power I seek, the universe 
will be *mine*!"
     "How? You're just one man..."
     "But, my dear," Kagato grinned. "I have the power of a god. 
And once I harness the power of the Royal Trees, I will have the 
power of many gods!"
     A strange glow appeared behind Kagato, and before he knew 
what happened, the room was filled with an ear-piercingly furious 
resonation, and six colored beams of energy converged to form a 
single burst of white, which struck him squarely in the chest.
     Kagato reeled, and fell flat on his back. But just as sud-
denly, he stood up again and faced Yuki. And laughed. "Interest-
ing! You were able to successfully compete an overdimension 
shift." He held out a hand. "Too bad it will do you no good!" A 
blast of green energy struck Yuki, digging deep into the crystal-
line hull. The ship screamed in agony.

     Kuri cursed. Based on the damage done, even a single addi-
tional blast of this magnitude could destroy Yuki. He had no 
choice but to fold out.
     Kagato smiled. "Fascinating. Tell me, how was the ship able 
to shift like that?"
     Yuri remained silent.
     The Destroyer of Artifacts frowned. "Fine, my dear, have it 
your way."
     The fluid around her began to squeeze. Yuki screamed at the 
incredible pain. "Allright! I'll tell you."
     The pain stopped. Mostly. "Do tell."
     Yuri took a deep breath. "We call it spacefold, because the 
system plots a course though the folds in the fabric of space-
time."
     Kagato nodded. "Tell me more."

     "Damn it! Why can't I think of anything?" Kuri stood at the 
center of Yuki, cursing himself. "There *has* to be something I 
can do! There just _has to_!" He slammed his fists on the crys-
talline floor. "Yuri! I need you!"
     After all the things that they had done together, would it 
end like this? All the experiments, the hard work. From the 
entrance exams, to the time travel experiment...
     He had been a fool. How could he have forgotten? "Time 
travel! Of course!" He just had to use it in the right way. "A... 
a fugue!" How had he forgotten? He knew all to well how, without 
Yuri.
     But he needed to prepare. It would take a great deal of time 
(so to speak) to pull it off.

     Kagato was growing tired of his guest, and she was getting 
just plain tired. "It seems," he said with a frown, "that your 
dear brother has given up."
     Yuri shook her head weakly. "No, he'd never give up. Ever."
     "And I didn't."
     Kagato spun around to see Kuri. Or, more accurately, twelve 
Kuris. Each one raised a hand, and produced a blast of purple 
energy. Struck a dozen times over, Kagato fell back. A moment 
later, nearly thirty Yukis fired on Souja with their prismatic 
convergence beams.
     "What?" yelled Kagato as he lifted himself up. "Impossible! 
How can you do this?!"
     There was a sound of glass shattering as more energy blasts 
struck both Kagato and his infernal spaceship.
     Kuri took Yuri's hand. They were together again, and took a 
moment to embrace.
     Kagato, still under heavy fire, created one of his telepor-
tation spheres, and slipped inside it.
     Yuri looked around, and saw a dozen Kuris around the room. 
Her surprise was sufficient for her eyes to try to escape her 
head. "How--?"
     Kuri -- the one next to her -- smiled. "I'll explain later."

     It had, in fact, been something of an ingenious plan. It had 
also been theorized before, though never used. Kuri had traveled 
to the time and place of the battle some thirty-six times in all, 
and made strategic use of the spacefold system. The end result 
was what theorists called a temporal fugue, though it seemed that 
Kuri had taken the concept to the point of a concerto.
     When they finished explaining this to Washu, she hesitated a 
moment, then smiled. "Two things," she said, with an evil grin. 
"One, your solution was pretty amazing, to say the least." Then 
she frowned. "But you were also reckless! You could've easily 
gotten yourselves killed! And you risked a massive time paradox 
as well! Do you have any idea what that would do to the local 
spacetime?"
     The two of them waited for her to finish, then exchanged 
glances.
     Yuri frowned. "We weren't the one who trained Kagato, and 
then was defeated by him."
     At that moment, Yuri had done something that was exceedingly 
rare; she left Washu speechless.
     "Well... I... uh..." the little genius sputtered. When Washu 
finally gained some composure, she hung her head. It was true; 
that was the one thing in her life that she'd really regretted 
doing. The single biggest screw-up ever. But no one had ever 
smacked her in the face with it before.
     Kuri smiled. "No matter. It's over now."
     Washu snapped back into a good mood with a speed that re-
minded the twins of Kagato's recovery time. "Well, that's true." 
She ran her fingers through her hair. "So... what's next for you 
two?"
     "We write the paper on this mess." said Yuri.
     "Gotta head back to the Academy, eh?"
     Kuri nodded. "But one thing before we go."
     Washu raised an eyebrow.
     Yuri smiled. "We want the technical information on Ryo-Ohki, 
so we can upgrade Yuki."
     Washu looked at the twins calculatingly. She quickly real-
ized that if the wanted to retain any shred of her good reputa-
tion, she would have to appease them. "Fine. Little weasels."

------------------------------------------------------------------
by Ewen "Ryoga" Cluney (ryoga_hibiki@hotmail.com)
Tenchi Muyo! Universe Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6127/tenchi.html

Beware of pandas carrying signs.----------------------------------------------------------------
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